Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S5W-02306

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 15 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00030 by Roseanna Cunningham on 24 May 2016, on what date it will announce its decision regarding extending the powers of the Scottish SPCA to tackle wildlife crime.

Question reference: S5W-02631

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 15 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, in order to preserve access to the US market for fish and fish products, whether it will introduce legislation that prohibits the intentional killing of marine mammals in all of Scotland's fisheries.

Question reference: S5O-00152

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 September 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to detect, prevent and prosecute dog fighting offences.

Question reference: S5W-02311

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 14 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to strengthen the development of grassroots tennis in Scotland since the Davis Cup was won by Great Britain in 2015.

Through sport Scotland, we have invested £3.3 million in tennis facilities over the last five years, which has generated a total investment of approximately £11 million in match funding across Scotland and has delivered over 100 indoor tennis courts.

Membership of Tennis Scotland has increased by more than 42% since 2009-10 with strong growth in both adult and junior membership predicted and a target of 57,000 by October 2017. The number of people playing tennis within the Disability Tennis Network has seen a 35% increase – from 275 to 372 players.

Question reference: S5W-02308

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 9 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on preventing plastic microbeads from entering the marine environment.

Scotland’s Marine Litter Strategy sets out the Scottish Government’s policy to reduce and prevent litter entering the sea, including plastic microbeads. The strategy includes over 40 actions such as raising public awareness, encouraging companies to produce alternatives to plastic microbeads, as well as undertaking research to address gaps in knowledge.

The Scottish Government are also supportive of the recent announcement by the UK Government to ban microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products. This is consistent with Scotland’s Marine Litter Strategy and we will work with the UK Government in developing these proposals.

Question reference: S5W-02059

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 8 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what incentives there are in public procurement frameworks that encourage waste minimisation and reuse.

The Scottish Government uses procurement and climate change policy, law and practice to drive waste minimisation and reuse in public contracts and frameworks.

Techniques such as Life Cycle Impact Mapping are outlined in the statutory guidance on the Sustainable Procurement Duty that is a core part of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. Products and services specifications routinely include environmental standards, while environmental evaluation criteria contribute to contract award decisions.

‘Making Things Last – A circular economy strategy for Scotland’ commits to working with public organisations to identify the products and services where innovation and best practice in public procurement can have the greatest benefit in promoting circular approaches such as leasing, repair and remanufacture, while delivering value for money. It also addresses how to expand that best practice, e.g. through collaborative procurement, guidance or regulation.

While the Scottish Government does not hold details of resource efficiency incentives in public procurement frameworks in the wider public sector, the Scottish Government’s Facilities Management contract is an example of environmental impact reduction. Since 2012, this has led to significant improvements in recycling rates, with a consequent reduction in tonnage to landfill sites of over 11%.

Question reference: S5W-02070

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to review the work of the Climate Challenge Fund since its inception, and what scope there is to extend its remit to include community-led climate change mitigation projects.

The Scottish Government has commissioned two external reviews of the Climate Challenge Fund, in 2011 and 2015. Both independent reviews highlighted that the Climate Challenge Fund has been a success on many levels.

2011 Review: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2011/06/28142552/0

2015 Review: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/11/4383

In addition, since its inception in 2008, the Climate Challenge Fund has supported community-led climate change mitigation projects.

Question reference: S5W-02058

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it encourages local authorities to adopt good practice on waste minimisation and reuse.

Waste minimisation and reuse are core to delivering a more circular economy, and the Scottish Government has set out its priorities for a circular economy in its strategy ‘Making Things Last’, published in February 2016. Local authorities and other bodies have a statutory duty to apply the waste hierarchy, prioritising waste prevention and reuse. The Scottish Government, through Zero Waste Scotland, is supporting local authorities to improve reuse collection, storage, retail and communications. This includes activity at Household Waste Recycling Centres and through bulky waste services; and through the National Reuse Phone line, making it easier to donate items.

Question reference: S5W-02068

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what support is in place for community projects funded by the Climate Challenge Fund whose funding ends in March 2017.

A key element of the Climate Challenge Fund is the delivery of the Community Action Support Programme, which develops the capacity of community groups (not just those with Climate Challenge Fund funding) wishing to tackle climate change by providing workshops, peer-to-peer networking opportunities and other resources. In a recent review of the Climate Challenge Fund (http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/11/4383), support provided by the Climate Challenge Fund was widely acknowledged as a strength of the scheme.

The Climate Challenge Fund also makes available development grants (up to £1,500) to help community-led organisations develop an application for future climate action funding or to support peer-to-peer learning activities that build their capacity to tackle climate change.

Question reference: S5W-02069

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Climate Challenge Fund will be continued beyond the current round of funding, which ends in March 2017.